I have always wanted to do some Christmas chapters for this universe (?) I've been writing in for far too long and this was my chance! This chapter is mostly fluff and explanation, but I had a lot of fun writing it! I have two more Christmas/New Year chapters planned so hopefully you'll be reading them in December and not February or something!

Thank you, my early Christmas presents reviews! Nameless, Virtue01, Lizcran, and mnbvcxz-xx

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ONE MONTH LATER

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Christmas was coming.

Wesley looked around the Main Hall and couldn't help the smile as he saw all the decorations going up. He hadn't even realized it was December, still on a turkey coma from Thanksgiving stuck in the last -few days-of-November-hang-over. There were servants hanging decorations everywhere, from fresh garlands all over the staircase and twinkly lights interwoven in between the vines and leaves that would somehow stay fresh for the next month. Wreaths and arrangements of poinsettias and evergreen were where the usual flowers were and there were subtle changes in the color schemes to red and green and silver. There was even more going on outside in the gardens and on the exterior of the palace with lights everywhere. The doors were wide open as a whole army of staff was maneuvering a massive Christmas tree into the Main Hall. It was pleasantly cold (for Angeles) today, and Wesley smiled.

He looked at his brothers on either side of him as they left the council room to find a whole ass season change.

"We making gingerbread houses this year lads?" he asked, looking between them in turn.

"You're making them with Aidan, kid," Andrew said, snagging some of what Wesley thought was mistletoe from a box of various greenery that smelled heckin' good. "I've got a date with my wife." He made a beeline for Christine, who was overseeing the decorating and the subsequent Report filming of it all with Nicole.

Which, of course, was were Ethan was going too. Wesley didn't even think he heard him. The two had just found out that their expectant baby was a girl and Nicole was positively glowing and they were disgustingly cute.

Wesley rolled his eyes at his bothers and stood for a moment watching everything go down.

Christmas was one of the few times where for a few hours the palace wasn't as perfect and beautiful as it seemed. It made him think. Some of it was happy, some of it not so much. Like how he had actually seen his home ransacked and pretty much destroyed when the rebels had captured it and his family. Or how this was his first Christmas that was going to be normal where he wouldn't exercise his prince privileges and fly in on Christmas Eve and leave late on Christmas night back to the front. Or how his dad wasn't going to be here again. Or the fact that there were ten girls who would miss Christmas with their families to be here for him and ugh he was going to marry one of them and he still didn't know he felt about that.

But it wasn't all bad. There was some good too. The Selection wasn't all bad, he was kinda excited to show the girls how his family did Christmas. And everyone else would be here, which was always fun. Even the not-exactly family like Colin and Adele and their kids and Gracie and Damian and Elvira, who was recovering with lots of physical therapy and rest and making him exercise all the lifesaving favors he owed her. Ben and Nat, of course, and all his siblings and their spouses and his mom. Michelle and David with the kids were flying in from Clermont for the week of Christmas so it would be kid haven with Danny along with the usual Aidan and Evie and Sophie plus little Jamie and Charlotte. The extended family would be flying in for Christmas Day, he was pretty sure Christine's parents and Nat and Nicole's family and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins from both of his parents would be here. It always was a full house, so it was good he had sent like two-thirds of them home already. That reminded him of the ten Christmas presents he had to come up with. At the end of it all, it was Christmas-the best food and even better desserts and he was definitely going to gain ten pounds, no shame. He loved everyone being happy and together and the cheesy traditions and joyful music and all the festive decorations and celebrations.

His mom came up beside him, and she was smiling for once. She had just dyed her hair again and it made her look younger. She touched his shoulder. "I love this day," she said.

Wesley nodded. "Me too. It's so exciting!"

His relationship with his mom had never been bad, though it had never been great. Ever since she had chewed him out for his scandalous behavior getting plastered all over the papers and he had broken down in front of her, it had been getting better. He had managed to get out of seeing a therapist, but she still checked up on him personally, and Wesley found he didn't mind.

"How are you doing?" she asked, reaching up to fix his shirt collar. "Everything okay?"

Surprisingly, it was. Yeah, the Selection was kind of scary and the current state of politics was pretty messed up right now, but it okay. The day he and Lissa had put a stop to whatever had been going on, he thought things couldn't get any worse. And he was right. Everything had gotten better, just like Elvira had said.

He looked at his mom and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

All his party behaviors and bad press from the girls who had left or been eliminated were entirely overshadowed by the attack on him and Vera. He hadn't left the palace since then, but Andrew was planning on lifting that rule soon, now that things in Angeles had calmed down. The small military faction who had staged the attack protesting the monarchy's easy handling of the rebels and the provinces that had seceded was still a pain in the ass, but Andrew and Ethan had smoothed things over with diplomacy and they were backed by popular opinion of most of the country. There were some demonstrations and a few more bomb scares, but things had cooled down. Most of the anti-rebel faction was backed by Atlin and the Berlins, which wasn't good for Fallon, but Wesley was keeping her around. While his brothers focused on the political side of things, Wesley's job was to distract and unite people around the Selection. It was clear that the three girls from the provinces that had seceded weren't going anywhere. There had been one extremely tense press conference right after it had happened and coupled with the Reports with tons of footage from his dates, it had done a pretty good job of distracting the country. He had explained to the other girls that he was going to favor Georgia, Fallon, and Vera in the press, and it had gone over pretty well. He could tell Eleanor was a little jealous, since that girl was never good at concealing her emotions. He had tried to pay more public attention to her because he had spent the least time with her, but it was getting overwhelming to date them all.

"We'll have to see if we can get the ladies' families here for a visit soon, maybe when there's a few less. I remember missing my parents terribly." Queen Francesca said as they watched the transformation of the Main Hall, the only place large enough for the massive Christmas tree that was only one of many.

"You were in Dad's Selection over Christmas?" Wesley asked her.

She nodded. "I was! I'll have to find some pictures. There were sixteen of us left, so there wasn't quite the same amount of press coverage like this. And your father wasn't trying to do everything you are, either," she said, reaching over to fix Wesley's hair.

"So, what did he get you for a Christmas present?"

His mom smiled, her gaze on the chaos of the Christmas decorating. "He got all of us the same exact pair of earrings and told us all they were from the royal collection," she shook her head fondly, "They weren't. We found out pretty quick."

Wesley laughed. "Sounds like something Dad would do."

She nodded. "I still have them. He got better as time went on about gifts."

"Well, now I know what not to give mine," Wesley said.

"How is that going? You've been at the Elite for almost a month now." His mother's gentle reminder was meant to be helpful, but it just made Wesley's skin prickle. He gave his go-to answer.

"I don't know."

"They may not all be content to stay for Christmas. You might talk to them," his mother said. "Another elimination soon would be good."

"I'll think about it," Wesley told her. They talked a few minutes more about the palace's Christmas plans before she left when the massive tree for the foyer nearly took out one of the chandeliers.

Wesley followed her into the fray, watching the Selected. They were all in the Main Hall, doing their best to help out or watch his brother's wives or just hanging out. Alyex and Eleanor were helping two maids plus Aidan and Jamie wrap the staircase banister (and each other) with greenery and little twinkly lights. He could see through the doors that Lillian, Dresden, and Iris were stringing up lights with some of the gardeners and he was pretty sure Evie and Sophie were out there too, he had seen them running around earlier. Veyra and Ophelia were helping carry in some of the other decorations, Veyra sporting a wreath around her neck and Ophelia with tinsel in her hair. Fallon and Georgia were standing near Christine and Nicole, mostly observing. Georgia was watching him, he noticed, a bored expression on her face. She tipped her chin in greeting and he gave her a little wave. He often found her out on the terrace early in the mornings, indulging in their one cigarette of the day (usually—they both made an exception after Reports and Wesley cheated a lot). When nightmares or insomnia woke him early, he usually joined her, bringing her coffee in exchange for a cigarette when he didn't have any. He had a new valet now, and though he was a lot better than Joseph, Wesley had learned his lesson and made his new bodyguard and ultra-loyal-to-the-royal-family Nick buy them for him. Wesley wasn't allowed to leave anyway, and whenever he asked Georgia, she just gave him one of her rare smiles and said, "I have my ways".

He still couldn't shake the being-watched feeling he always got when he caught when she was looking at him. She and Fallon both looked practically like princesses themselves standing with his sister-in-law, all done up in festive outfits with perfect hair and makeup. Wesley watched with slight amusement as Vera waltzed in to join the decorating. She was wearing those jeans she brought from home like she almost always did unless someone specially told her otherwise. Her flannel also looked like something from home, though the leather jacket and ankle boots probably weren't. Pieces of hair were falling into her face from her bun and like always she wasn't wearing much makeup except some eyeliner almost as messy as her hair. Her cheeks were pink and Finn and Jack the dogs were on either side of her, looking as winded as Vera. She greeted Wesley in her usual way, with a half-smile that made a little dimple pop in her cheek.

"Hey," she said, bumping her shoulder into his as she joined him. "Did you know it's below fifty degrees out today? I think that's the coldest it's been since I got here."

"You're so cute when it's cold out," Wesley said, grinning.

"I have cold in my veins," Vera told him, reaching over to mess up the hair his mom had just fixed.

"Hey, none of that," Wesley playfully pinned her arms by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest, so she was trapped. Vera squirmed and Wesley heard her laughing. She looked up at him, blue eyes shining in the glow of the Christmas lights that Eleanor had just plugged in to illuminate the staircase.

"You're warm now," he fought against a smile.

Vera's eyes narrowed and her nose wrinkled just a bit. "Let me go," she said, lips twitching as she too tried not to smile.

Ever since she had basically saved his life and they had almost died together and Wesley had fallen asleep on her balcony after getting drunk and playing I Never with her, they had gotten a lot closer. The next night when he had been watching videos on his phone in bed trying to fall asleep, Vera had returned the favor and casually walked in and sat on his bed like she did it every night, with some contraband wine from the kitchens. They had drunk the bottle together playing truth or dare until they both fell asleep. Since then, it was one or the other—either Vera came to his room or he went to hers. Nothing too serious ever happened other than talking about everything and nothing and sleeping and some mild cuddling since Vera wasn't much of a touchy person. It was weird, that having someone there made everything so much better. The dark circles that both of them had sported were gone (unless they stayed up all night talking which also happened a lot) and though sometimes they woke each other up with nightmares, it was always easier to go back to sleep when you weren't by yourself.

"Grinch," Wesley teased as he released her. Vera shoved her loose pieces of hair behind her ears, trying to scowl at him. "I bet you hate Christmas too,"

"Nah, just haven't celebrated it for a couple of years," Vera said. "And believe me, I bitch just as much about the cold back home as I do about the heat here."

Wesley laughed. "I can imagine that!"

"Woah, am I that predictable?"

"Little bit," Wesley told her.

Veyra and Ophelia joined them, armed with mountains of Christmas decorations that they were both carrying and wearing in various goofy fashions.

"You guys gonna help or what?" Veyra asked, cocking an eyebrow. She thrust a heavy box of what looked like Christmas ornaments into Wesley's arms. "Quit fooling around!"

"Yes ma'am," Wesley said, giving her a fake salute. He glanced at Ophelia and she shrugged. Usually, Veyra was up for fun, however, she appeared to be taking this Christmas decorating thing very seriously.

Vera lifted the box out of Wesley's arms and followed Veyra, and the way she looked at him up through her eyelashes made him wish he was outside in a blizzard for a minute or something like that. Instead, he reached for the stack of wreaths Ophelia was balancing on her own boxes. They walked together behind the other two.

"I feel like you're the kind of girl who likes Christmas," Wesley said to her.

Ophelia looked sideways at him, smiling softly. "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, just like your overall aesthetic."

"It's kind of weird since it's not cold here," she said, and Wesley groaned dramatically.

"What is with all of you and your hate of Angeles weather!" he lamented. "We have great weather!"

Ophelia giggled. "True, great for the beach, not so much for the holidays! New York City is so magical when it snows around Christmas. There's truly nothing like it. So many tourists, so many shows for me, but it's amazing."

"I'd like the see it one time."

She smiled and the action made her eyes crinkle up. "I'd like to show you."

"If my brother ever lets any of us out, we should go there this year. Like a really expensive date and oh, I hate flying, so we'll have to drive," Wesley joked.

"Yeah, that will only take an hour or so," Ophelia said. "No big deal."

"So, do you have any Christmas traditions or anything?"

Ophelia thought for a moment. "I always try to make time for ice skating downtown with my friends or my family. It's fun to pretend to be a tourist too or go to cafes and just watch people. Everyone always seems happier around Christmas."

"It's hard not to be," Wesley said, stopping to pull a piece of tinsel out of her hair.

Veyra took the decorating process very seriously and the four of them spent the next hour helping the staff decorate the big tree in the Main Hall, as well as everything else. Wesley only dropped a few ornaments but only three actually broke, so all in all, it was a success. Veyra kept disappearing only to reappear without ever actually leaving the room so Wesley swore she had invisibility powers. She insisted she was just putting on the lights, but he had his doubts. Ophelia told them more about New York in the winter and Vera added her own stories of St. George. Veyra was the smallest so she got on Wesley's shoulders to hang the taller ornaments until Aidan saw and demanded that he take her place (he broke two ornaments, which was…not talked about). The other eight finished their tasks and soon joined them and before Wesley knew it, it seemed like the whole palace was there trimming the tree. Ethan and Nicole were taking turns lifting Jamie up to hang ornaments. Christine was trying in vain to get Aidan to stop hanging all the ornaments in the lower-left corner of the tree. Andrew, Ethan, and Ben were sampling the eggnog a little too much. Nat and Nicole had started singing Christmas songs kinda badly and Evie and Sophie joined in with their aunts with some equally bad dance moves (that nearly broke some ornaments). Wesley caught sight of Lissa standing on the fringe, looking somewhat out of place.

He smiled and she smiled back, and it was incredibly awkward. But it was okay.

He found Vera, who was sitting on the floor, untangling a long string of lights that was on the setting that made them blink like a strobe light.

"Hey, so I asked my mom and she said it was cool that we could get a snow machine for the gardens," he said, plopping down on the floor right next to her and casually looping an arm over her shoulders.

Vera wrinkled her nose and plucked his arm off of her. "Gross, why are you so sweaty?"

"I was chasing the kids around!" Wesley protested.

She shook her bangs out of her eyes. "Doesn't it need to be cold for a snow machine to work?"

"I don't know, probably." Wesley picked up the other end of the lights and set to work making it worse. "So, what do you do for Christmas?"

Vera didn't look up. "Oh, the usual. You know."

"Like what?"

Vera shrugged and he knew she didn't really want to talk, but in his experience, it would be a good thing.

"I must have been twelve or thirteen the last time we did," she said. "I made cookies with my sister and my friends and we burned them, I think. They were disgusting. My brothers chopped down a tree from our property and there was a blizzard that year." A ghost of a smile flitted across her face. "The power went out on Christmas night, but we had a fire in the fireplace, and we were all together, and we ate the cookies for our Christmas dinner." She spoke of her ghosts, he knew, with only one of her brothers still alive. Her smile turned to a scowl. "The next year, my parents left us at home because Mitch Levi's rebellion was more important. This is my first Christmas since."

Wesley studied the blonde across from him, her pain so deep he could practically read it off her eyes. He found her hand and squeezed it.

"That Christmas sucked for me too, when we were in exile," he kept his tone light, trying not to remember too much. "Mitch Levi didn't let us have it either. I just hope my Selection turns out my brother's."

He watched Ethan and Nicole on the other side of the room, arms around each other and around Jamie to hold him still as they posed for a picture in front of the tree for the official palace photographer. Vera was looking too. If they could find each other in all they had gone through (not to mention the bonus relationships of Nat and Ben and Colin and Adele and Gracie and Damian), Wesley decided he could find someone in this far more normal Selection.

He looked at Vera. "I'm glad I get to celebrate your first Christmas since then with you." He said, the words coming out only a little awkwardly.

One side of her mouth twitched into her half-smile. "You're messing up the lights though," she nodded to where he was attempting to help. Then she leaned over and put both of her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. Before he could even flinch or close his eyes or kiss her back, she was done, picking up her flashing lights.

Wesley didn't get a chance to reply because his mom was calling for him to come to take pictures. He didn't even know what he would have said. He didn't even know if he could speak, he was so shocked.

Hoping no one had seen it and would ridicule him for it, he pulled Vera to her feet. Wesley ignored the rest of the girls watching them as they posed in front of the tree. Vera smiled tentatively; her hands crossed over her.

"You can do better than that," Wesley told her.

She flicked him on the arm. "Shut up!"

"Ow!" He rubbed his arm.

She flashed a toothpaste-commercial grin in his direction and Wesley couldn't help throwing his arm over her shoulders and pulling all of her jeans and flannel against him. This time, she didn't pull away and slid her arm around his waist. They smiled cheesy grins and looked like idiots.

"I'm coming over tonight, you better have some hot chocolate or something since you're so happy to have me here," she had the audacity to smirk as she whispered to him as she left. "Have fun taking pictures."

Wesley didn't have anything to say to that.

The rest of the pictures went well, except Eleanor was pissed off and Fallon was her usual self and Ophelia was being weirdly quiet and Veyra was still suffering from Christmas-stress. It was a relief when that was over, and it was time for family pictures. He joined his brothers and sisters-in-law and mom and endured the overly festive, highly tacky Christmas sweater they forced him in. They took some group shots in front of the newly decorated tree for the Report and other press. He took some with just him mom and just his brothers and just Nicole and Christine and they even made him do one with all the kids (who were all having a collective picture-taking meltdown).

Yeah, Christmas was coming. And it was going to be awesome.